Neon Debts in the Rain

Story So Far

In a rain-soaked neon city, a figure crouches on a fire escape above Meridian Street, waiting for payment from Lao's Electronics while syndicate activity stirs below. When confronted at the shop's back door, the protagonist discovers that Old Lao has been attacked and is trapped beneath fallen shelving, clutching a mysterious unmarked secondary drive.

Under threat from an enforcer with a pipe, the protagonist manages to steal the drive and escape into the rainy night, leaving the enforcer shouting behind them. Using the name Kimi, the injured protagonist makes their way through alleys to the old Meridian Transfer Station, where a pale-skinned figure named Ember provides sanctuary and first aid.

Ember recognizes the drive's casing as dangerous—a previous whistleblower who carried similar evidence was killed. She warns that Old Lao, now conscious and aware of Kimi's identity, could expose her to the Syndicate at any moment. When Kimi suggests throwing the drive into the canal to rid themselves of it, Ember proposes a more strategic alternative: trading the drive to Decker Voss, a data broker in the Underline, in exchange for intel about Harker Street freight depot.

Though frustrated at becoming a target for helping Lao, Kimi accepts Ember's reasoning that leaving in the rain with cracked ribs is unwise. Ember provides shelter, rest, and clean clothes for the night. At 5:45 in the morning, Ember wakes Kimi with a hot drink and final instructions, sending them out into the wet alley with the hidden drive still on them. Kimi walks toward the Underline market, staying close to the walls as dawn approaches.